HNA News: Work Party Today 5:45, UC Grant Funds Available, Disaster Prep Mtg. Sat. 4/29

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Halcyon Neighborhood Association E-Newsletter*

* * * * * * * * * * * *

In This Newsletter

1. Reminder: After-work Weeding Work Party, Tues., April 25, 5:45-6:45 p.m., Halcyon Commons Park

2. UC Offering $200,000 in Grants to Community Projects

3. Steering Committee Meeting & Disaster Prep Subcommittee Meeting, Sat., 4/29, 4-6 p.m.

4. Get Ready Berkeley Day, Sat. May 6, 10 a.m.-1 p.m.

Please consider joining us to do a little bit of weeding (heavy rain cancels) late this afternoon in Halcyon Commons Park and the nearby landscaped barrier at Prince and Deakin. A few extra hands would really lighten the load for our tiny core of weeding faithfuls!

Also note the exciting opportunity for our neighborhood to apply for some of the $200,000 in grant funds UC is making available as part of its settlement with the City of Berkeley. Some of us have already been talking about possible projects in Halcyon Commons Park. Other ideas are welcome (please reply to this email), especially if you're willing to help prepare the grant application! Potential UC partners (professors, students, staff) who live in the neighborhood are especially urged to indicate their willingness to help, as the success of our neighborhood applications depends on having UC partnership. Reply to this email with suggestions or to indicate your willingness to serve as one of our UC partners.

-Nancy Carleton, HNA Co-Chair and E-Newsletter Editor

* * * * * * * * * * * *

1. Reminder: After-work Weeding Work Party, Tues., April 25, 5:45-6:45 p.m., Halcyon Commons Park

Heavy rain cancels, but if it's just sprinkling, we'll be out in Halcyon Commons Park (Halcyon at Prince) and then at the landscaped barrier at Deakin and Prince finishing up some weeding and planting some ceanothus. Bring weeding tools if you have them (otherwise, we'll have some extras available). Even twenty minutes of your time will help! Thanks.

 

* * * * * * * * * * * *

2. UC Offering $200,000 in Grants to Community Projects

Chancellor's Community Partnership Fund
marks expanded campus commitment to enhance quality of life in city of Berkeley

A new Chancellor's Community Partnership Fund established by the University of California, Berkeley, will distribute $200,000 in grants this year to support projects that link UC Berkeley with the community to improve the quality of life for Berkeley residents. Funds will be made available annually through 2020.

Local community groups, nonprofit organizations and neighborhood associations that establish a project in partnership with a UC Berkeley academic or administrative department or with individual faculty and staff members or students will be eligible to apply for funding.

"The Community Partnership Fund expands UC Berkeley's commitment to public service and to partnership with the city of Berkeley," said Chancellor Robert Birgeneau. "We believe that this fund will stimulate new and creative approaches to meeting community needs."

Through a competitive process, grants will be awarded in two categories. The first is for neighborhood improvement projects that enhance the physical environment of Berkeley neighborhoods or of facilities that serve the community. The other will address community support and service projects that enhance the economic, social or cultural well-being of Berkeley residents.

"I am excited about the opportunities the fund offers to residents and community organizations to become directly involved in the improvement of their neighborhoods," said Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates. "The Community Partnership Fund will help forge closer connections between the community and the campus."

An advisory board of community leaders and representatives of the city and university developed the goals, criteria and process for awarding partnership grants and will review and recommend projects for funding. Grant proposals for the inaugural year are due by June 15, 2006. The grant awards will be announced in August 2006.

As part of its agreement with the city following the adoption of the UC Berkeley 2020 Long Range Development Plan, annual allocations to the fund will be made through the year 2020, and proposals will be solicited on an annual basis.

UC Berkeley's Office of Community Relations and The Berkeley Alliance are hosting an informational public workshop on the grant application process on Tuesday, May 2, at 3 p.m., in room 150 of University Hall, located at the foot of the UC Berkeley campus at the corner of Addison and Oxford streets.

Contact Information:
Chancellor's Community Partnership Fund
UC Berkeley Office of Community Relations
2200 Bancroft Way #1522
Berkeley , CA 94720-1522
Telephone: 510/643-5299; Fax: 510/642-7289
E-mail: calpartnershipfund@berkeley.edu
Web: http://communityrelations.berkeley.edu/ccpf

From the application cover:

Funding Priorities: The Fund awards grants for projects in one of two general categories:
1. Neighborhood Improvement Projects:  Projects that enhance the physical environment of Berkeley neighborhoods or facilities that serve the community, including planning activities, feasibility studies, and needs assessments that would lead to such projects.

Examples:   Landscape improvement projects; "tot lot" enhancements; community center improvements; façade  improvements in business districts; public kiosks and signage.

2. Community Support and Service Projects:  Projects that enhance the economic, social, and cultural wellbeing of Berkeley residents, including projects that assist the community and community-based organizations to maximize resources and develop their capacity.

Examples: Health needs assessment survey; seniors oral history project; development of family resource guide; literacy programs, collaborative approach to health outreach services.

Grant Amounts:

Generally, up to 75% of the annual allocation will be earmarked for neighborhood improvement projects and 25% for community support and service projects.  The minimum grant award will be $5,000.  Projects may be for up to two years duration.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

3. Steering Committee Meeting & Disaster Prep Subcommittee Meeting, Sat., 4/29, 4-6 p.m.

Dawn Rubin's Basement Office, 3049 Wheeler (go to right of house to back door to enter)

If you're interested in playing a leading or organizing role in strengthening our neighborhood's disaster preparedness (and following up on some of the good ideas generated at the neighborhood-wide meeting last October) either as a block captain or in some other role, please join the Disaster Prep Subcommittee meeting on Saturday, April 29th. (The first half hour of the meeting will be devoted to some more general housekeeping details of the HNA Steering Committee, which has overlapping membership with the Disaster Prep Subcommittee; the last hour and a half will be devoted to continuing our disaster preparedness plans.)

Discussion will include:

* Practical next steps to move our neighborhood toward greater preparedness

* Water drum project (bulk order of 55-gallon drums)

* Organizing an effective block-by-block structure, including identifying block captains for all blocks

* Sharing information about Oakland's program and available resources through the City of Berkeley

* Brainstorming

Please RSVP to Dawn Trygstad Rubin <familyrubin@comcast.net> if you're new to the committee and plan to attend (a rough attendance count is helpful in case we need to find a larger meeting place).

* * * * * * * * * * * *

4. Get Ready Berkeley Day, Sat. May 6, 10 a.m.-1 p.m.

Help distribute disaster prep information. Meet at San Pablo Park.

Carol Lopes of the City of Berkeley Office of Emergency Services forwards the following message:

Saturday, May 6 is "Get Ready Berkeley Day," and we need hundreds of volunteers to distribute life-saving information to thousands of Berkeley residents' doors. Here's an opportunity to do something in our own community toward preparing our residents for a disaster. Volunteer walkers will receive a safety prize and lunch at 12:30 hosted by the Berkeley Firefighters Association. . . . Our motto for this campaign is "No One's Prepared Until Everyone's Prepared!"

Volunteers will meet May 6th at 10 a.m. sharp at the Frances Albrier Community Center in San Pablo Park (2800 Park Street, four blocks east of San Pablo Avenue, between Ward and Russell)

RSVP your participation today. Please help recruit more volunteers by forwarding this email, and please let us know how many others you can bring to help. To RSVP, please contact Get Ready Berkeley Program Coordinators Carol Lopes at 981-5576 or clopes@ci.berkeley.ca.us, or Elinor Buchen at 981-5584.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

The Halcyon Neighborhood Association E-Newsletter:  The HNA E-Newsletter forwards occasional crime watch notices as well as announcements about events of interest to neighbors in the Ashby/Telegraph/Woolsey/Adeline area of south Berkeley, including community-building potlucks, greening projects, disaster preparedness meetings, and work parties in Halcyon Commons Park. If you're receiving this email, either you signed up at a neighborhood event or a neighbor may have forwarded it to you. Please note that to prevent spam, HNA always uses bcc and does not share your email address with third parties. If you wish to be removed from this list, please reply to HNA Co-Chair Nancy Carleton/Halcyon Neighborhood Association <ngc2@mindspring.com>. Please feel free to pass the HNA E-Newsletter on to other neighbors you think might be interested.

HNA Listserve:  If you would like to receive messages (and participate in discussions) on the HNA Listserve, please reply to Halcyon Neighborhood Association <ngc2@mindspring.com> indicating your interest, and you will receive an invitation to join.

HNA Blog:  If you would like to view previous newsletters online (and comment via a blog format), please visit http://halcyoncourt.blogspot.com/

* * * * * * * * * * * *